Clothes hanger



Aug. 8, 1939. i P. w. OLSON 2,168,361

CLOTHES HANGER Filed April 12, 1937 Patented Aug. 8, 1939 PATENT OFFICE CLOTHES HANGER Phillip W. Olson, Grand Rapids, Mich., assignor to Automatic Instrument Company, a corporation of Michigan Application April 12, 1937, Serial No. 136,288

5 Claims.

This invention relates in general to a hanger for clothes or other articles and is more particularly described as a folding hanger adapted normally to be folded or concealed and extensible for emer- 5'; gency or ordinary use.

An important object of the invention is in the provision of a pivoted hanger with an enclosure for normally concealing it, but readily uncovered and extensible for regular use.

10 A further object of the invention is in the provision of a rotatable spring pressed hanger mounted in a closeable casing and adapted to fold compactly against the wall or any other surface to which it is attached.

15 Other objects of the invention will appear hereinafter, the accompanying drawing illustrating a preferred embodiment of the invention, in which Fig. 1 is a View in elevation with parts broken away for clearness illustrating a preferred em- -2 bodiment of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a section taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged view showing the hanger casing in open position and the hanger extended;

and

Fig. 4 is a detail view illustrating the spring means for holding a hanger in open and closed position.

Coat racks and clothes hangers are particularly so objectionable when not in use as they are usually unsightly in appearance, occupy otherwise valuable space, and do not easily conform to the decorative features of the room or wall to which they are attached. The present invention provides a 35 foldable hanger which collapses flatly in a sup porting case having a cover which may be closed over the supporting hooks, and the case and cover may be painted or otherwise decorated to conform to the wall or other surface to which it is 40 attached, so that when the cover is closed, the entire structure will appear as a wall board or molding which is readily and quickly converted into a clothes support or a hanger for other articles with the least possible trouble.

45 Referring now more particularly to the drawing, a plurality of supporting hooks or hangers l0, each preferably having an upper projection H and a lower projection l2 are also formed with an upper pivoting end I 3 and a lower pivoting 50 end 14 substan ially in alignment. The pivoting ends are mounted in a flat casing l5 having a top offset projection l6 and a bottom offset projection I! in which the corresponding pivoting ends are rotatable.

55 The upper projection has a rearwardly turned portion I8 at the top to fit against the wall and the lower projection has a rounded bead 19 extending below the casing.

The casing is of suificient depth to seat the hooks or hangers I ll therein when they are rotated flat- 5 ly therein, and the upper ofiset portion is preferably in the form of a rectangular groove in which a flat spring 20 is secured as by rivets 2| with a free angular projection 22 adapted to engage the upper bent extremity 23 of the hanger I0 seated therein so that the extremity will be engaged on one side by the spring to hold it in open position and. on the other side by the spring to hold it in closed position as shown more clearly in Fig. 4.

The casing I5 is preferably made of thin sheet metal and a cover '25 therefore is made of similar material having a curved bead 26 along one edge to fit within the bead I9 of the casing to form a hinged joint and the opposite edge or side of the cover having a lip 21 to fit over the upper offset edge of the casing with sufiicient resilience to hold the cover in place without any additional fastening means.

The hanger is secured to a wall 28 or other sup 5 port by any suitable fastening means such as screws 29 inserted from the inside of the casing through the bottom thereof into the wall.

With this construction the hangers are mounted entirely within the casing and when the cover 30 is closed the casing and cover may be painted to look like a wall board or a molding or may be otherwise decorated so that it is neither unsightly in appearance nor conspicuous. To utilize the hanger the cover is simply opened and allowed to hang below the fixed casing, the hooks or hangers are turned outwardly, the springs 20 yielding sufficiently to allow the hangers to be moved from one position to the other and the engagement of the spring holding the hangers yieldingly both in closed and in extended open position; A hanger of this kind may be incorporated as a part of any wall, it may extend continuously about an entire room, or it may form a part only of a wall decoration, the remainder of which is a regular wallboard. In any form the hanger is ready for instant use by simply opening the cover and extending the hangers, and may be as easily concealed when not in use.

I claim:

1. In a foldable hanger, a flat shallow casing having hollow ribs at top and bottom, a plurality of hooks pivoted upon vertical axes at top and bottom in the hollow ribs of the casing and rotatable to extend from the inside of the casing,

and resilient means in one of the hollow ribs for engaging one of the pivoted ends of each hook for holding it yieldingly in a position within the casing or in a position extending from the casing.

2. In a concealed foldable clothes hanger, a shallow casing having an attached cover therefor hinged at one edge of the casing to swing downwardly therefrom, and a hollow offset portion along the other edge of the casing, a plurality of hooks each pivoted within the casing upon a vertical axis and having a projection at one end of the hook within the offset portion, spring means to engage the projection of the hook in the offset portion for holding the hook either within the casing or in extended position without the casing, and the cover engaging over the ofiset portion in its closed position and enclosing the hooks in their folded position, but the cover being prevented from closing when the hooks are in extended position.

3. A foldable clothes hanger comprising a fiat sheet metal casing adapted to be attached to a vertical wall in horizontal position with outstanding hollow ribs at the top and bottom, a clothes hanger hook having upper and lower projections to pivot it upon a vertical axis in the casing at the inside of said ribs so that it will swing outwardly from the casing and will fold within the outer edges and between the ribs in the casing, and means in one of the ribs to engage one of the pivoted ends for holding the hook in folded position.

4. A foldable clothes hanger according to claim 3 in which one end of the hook has a projection which extends within the'said rib, and said holding means comprising a spring attached within the rib which engages the end projection of the hook for holding it resiliently in folded or extended position.

5. A concealed clothes hanger according to claim 3 in which a shallow cover is permanently hinged at the bottom and closes upwardly over the casing when the hooks are folded therein to conceal them, constituting a continuous or decorative room molding or wall board when of sufficient extent, the hooks preventing the cover from being closed when any one of them is extended upwardly.

PHILLIP W. OLSON. 

